


Time Pieced

by sunnilee



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Kimi no Na wa AU, Soulmates, and her birthday got my creative side going, and here we are, and it was only five, and the first time in years since i've decided to tackle a multichapter fic, last time i wrote a multichapter was at least 4 years ago now, long story short: petals is a huge inspiration, this is the first time i've successfully outlined a story from head to toe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-01
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-05 05:45:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15857433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunnilee/pseuds/sunnilee
Summary: Once in a while when I wake up, I find myself crying. I'm always searching. For something, or someone.Kimi No Na Wa (Your Name) AU





	1. Prologue: Missing

James shot up in bed, heart racing and gasping heavily. His hair stuck to the back of his neck and his blankets tangled around his legs. He gave them a swift kick and hastily wiped away the tears from his eyes in frustration. He shoved his glasses on his face and reached for his wand.

“ _Lumos._ ”

A soft light illuminated his room and he began to take stock. Nothing was out of place, as usual. His robes hung on its rack in the corner. His desk was cluttered with inked quills and crumpled balls of parchment. If he concentrated enough, he could hear the quiet snores coming from Sirius and Remus’ room one wall over. He muttered a quick _Nox_ and settled back down into his blankets and rolled over to check the clock on his wall.

_03:00  
31 October 1985_

He groaned and rubbed his eyes, trying to clear away the remaining wetness in his lashes. These episodes had become such common place in James’ life, he expected nothing less at this point. It didn’t mean that he _enjoyed_ having them.

They had started maybe seven years ago, soon after he graduated from Hogwarts and began working for the Order. He chalked it up to anxiety and stress from his missions, but the episodes always escalated leading up to this date. It was always 3 in the morning and it always ended up with him wiping away tears with a profound sense of loss and longing. Longing for something he couldn’t explain… longing for something he never even had. And yet, the ache in his chest left him thinking otherwise.

James told Sirius once, after a particularly bad awakening that left him sobbing over something in his dreams. Something he couldn’t remember, not the premise, not the feelings in the dream, nothing but the emptiness he carried with him. Sirius had stared at him in concern, but ended up shrugging and saying, “You were always a tad mad, Prongs. Like that one time you dragged Moony and I all the way out to that dingy muggle town a few years ago, after our mission? I can’t remember why we went, just that you were struck with something, and it wasn’t a curse. We made sure of that.”

James also couldn’t remember why he made that trip. He couldn’t even recall the town’s name. All he knew was the insistent wrenching inside his chest that became a constant ache he learned to live with. He dragged a hand through his hair and tried to sink deeper into his pillows, absently wondering if he would feel this way forever, or if anything in the world could fix it.


	2. i. Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 3 September 1975

Lily woke up in a haze. Sunlight peeked through her curtains and she blinked blearily. She could hear the soft tinkling of dishes coming from the kitchen. Blinking a few more times, Lily sat up in bed and looked around her room. Her books were stacked haphazardly on her desk and her favorite jumper was thrown across the back of her chair. Her eyes trailed over to the full-length mirror next to her closet and paused. Wild red hair piled on top of her head, fluffed up from fretful sleep. Green eyes stared steadily back in her reflection and Lily had the strangest feeling she was forgetting something.

She was just about to crawl out of bed when two sharp knocks sounded at her door, followed by a sharp screech. “Lily, get up! You were supposed to make breakfast this morning.” The door swung open and Lily stared vacantly at her sister standing in the hallway. “Tuney?”

Petunia scrunched her nose and muttered under her breath, “at least you remember my name today.”

Lily tripped on her blankets getting out of bed and shot her sister a curious look. “What? Why wouldn’t I know your name?”

“I don’t know what goes on in that freak mind of yours. Come quickly. Your eggs are getting cold and we’ll be late for school.”

The door slammed behind her, leaving Lily alone to ponder over her sister’s words. Come to think of it, she couldn’t quite remember what happened yesterday… but it had been a stressful couple of weeks with all her studying. She _did_ remember having the strangest dream, however. _Floating candles, swishing robes, and—_

“Lily! Move!” Petunia’s voice broke through Lily’s thoughts, sending her flying across the room to dump her books into her bag and pull her hair into a braid. She was fastening her father’s golden watch onto her wrist by the time she reached the kitchen where her mum sat, listening to the radio. As Lily slid into her seat and began rapidly spooning eggs into her mouth, her mum looked up and smiled. “I see you’re acting normal today?”

Lily swallowed a little too fast and started choking. Her mother gently patted her on the back and Petunia scoffed from by the sink. “If you’re quite finished, Lily, we have to _go_.”

“I don’t know, Tuney… I think I’ll take a few more precious seconds to make sure I don’t choke. Unless, of course, that’s what you meant. I'll be perfectly finished upon asphyxiation.”

Petunia _hmphed_ and swept through the kitchen, leaving out the front door in a huff. Lily’s mother gave her an admonishing look that Lily returned with a sheepish smile. “Sorry, Mum. Love you.”

“Love you too, dear.”

Lily hoisted her bag onto her shoulder and ran after her sister. Petunia had gotten to the end of the block by the time Lily caught up, a little out of breath. She thinned her lips at Lily and said, “Good. You braided your hair today.”

Lily’s brow furrowed. “Of course I did. What else would—”

Two new voices cut Lily off from behind. “It looked like a lion’s mane yesterday if I’m going to be honest.”

“Personally, it reminded me more of a bird’s nest.”

Turning on her heel, she was met with matching smirks from Mary MacDonald and Benjy Fenwick. Her eyes narrowed at them. “What are you talking about?”

Before they could respond, Petunia cut in. “Don’t forget about dinner tonight, Lily. We’re visiting Dad after.” Without another word, she veered off to her own school, leaving Lily with a pit in her stomach.

She felt two pairs of eyes on her and smiled weakly, gesturing for them to walk in front of her as she stewed in her thoughts. The trio continued their trek to school in a heavy silence. Lily _had_ forgotten, and she felt terrible. _No wonder Tuney was willing to make breakfast this morning._ She berated herself and her foggy memory. She had no idea why her usually clear head was so mucked up recently. Her sleeping schedule was off for the last week, but she attributed that to the amount of studying she’d putting herself through for University entrance exams. She desperately wanted to get out of dreary Cokeworth… she may have (definitely) neglected some of her other responsibilities and needs.

As the school came into sight, Lily cleared her throat. “So, mind catching me up on what _else_ happened yesterday?”

Mary stopped in her tracks and grabbed Lily by the shoulder. “You don’t remember?”

Lily’s eyes flitted from Mary’s concerned expression to Benjy’s poorly concealed amused one. “Am I… missing something?”

Benjy’s eyebrows shot up on his forehead and exchanged an incredulous look with Mary. “You mean to tell me, you have _no_ recollection of you did yesterday?”

Lily’s heart stopped. “What I did? What did I do?” Rumors traveled quickly in Cokeworth. The last thing she needed was another incident that placed her family under scrutiny. Another incident for Petunia to blame her for.  

Sensing Lily’s urgency, Mary cut in, “Nothing drastic! Just… a little strange coming from one of the best students in our year.”

Lily inhaled deeply. That could mean anything, really. She glanced wearily at Mary’s concerned face and Benjy’s skeptical one. “Define strange…” Her friends exchanged another look and shrugged. They nudged Lily to keep walking.

They continued in silence for a while until Benjy spoke up, “You were out for sorts to say the least. We weren’t kidding about the hair. You’d be ecstatic about the small things but fall into a slump on a whim. We couldn’t really figure out what was going on with you… you didn’t really tell us anything except that this whole thing ‘was just a dream, I’ll wake up in my own bed soon.’ You also kept asking questions that you already know the answer to? Our professor chalked it off to it being a sensitive time… with your dad and all.”

Lily’s nodded jerkily and clenched her jaw. “Anything else?” Benjy and Mary shook their heads and Lily nodded again, muttering her thanks. Her throat closed at the mention of her father, but she was glad her friends didn’t pry any further. It was one thing to have her father disappear, but it was another to have his disappearance be the longstanding gossip of the town.

The school came into sight and Lily felt herself tense at the feeling of several pairs of eyes dart to her as other students trickled in. She was used to the feeling of eyes following her, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. She bid Mary and Benjy a quick goodbye as she slipped into the last row of her Psychology room. It was normally one of her favorite classes, but she wanted to lie low after… _whatever_ happened yesterday. She also needed to review her notes, because of course, she couldn’t remember what was covered the day before either.

Lily faintly recognized her professor reviewing signs of dissociation and she idly wondered if that’s what she’s been experiencing. She scanned her notes and paused when she flipped the page. Her handwriting… was strange. She knew she would get sloppy in the early mornings, but this? This looked like she’d never held a pen before. As she read further down the page, the handwriting cleaned up a bit, and the more concerned Lily got. It became increasingly clear that this _wasn’t_ her handwriting and someone else had been writing in her notebook. She gulped nervously and turned another page.

Class material notes eventually stopped and instead, her notebook was filled with hurried scribbles about the school, her town. She saw Mary and Benjy’s name circled in a corner, Cokeworth surrounded by several questions marks, and Petunia’s name marked _SISTER_ with asterisks alongside a crude diagram of what seemed to be braiding instructions. There also seemed to be a drawing of her pen next to a feather, with a brief list of pros and cons between the two.

Lily snorted quietly and turned to the last used page in her notebook. Her heart jumped into her throat and she slammed her notebook shut. The sound caused several eyes to turn toward her, including her professor. She smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, bug crawling on the page. Didn’t want it to escape.”

She tensed as she heard the whispers of her classmates grow, but more so under her professor’s unwavering stare. “Would you like to head to the nurse, Miss Evans? You look a little peaked.”

Her chair scraped loudly as Lily shot up from her desk. She quickly swung her bag on her shoulder and grabbed her notebook off her desk. She muttered, “Thank you, Professor,” before rushing down the wall toward the Infirmary. Her hands were clammy and her breathing short. Lily’s mind was racing in circles around the three words written in very much _not_ her own handwriting.

_WHO ARE YOU?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> currently writing chapter 3!
> 
> please bear with me as these chapters slowly get churned out, I'm a second year medical student and this is one way to keep myself sane :'). These first few will probably be low in word count... later ones where I really want to develop scenes and worldbuilding, will hopefully have more.
> 
> apologies in advance if you find any typos!
> 
> come find me on tumblr:  tsunnychan 


	3. ii. Again?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 4 September 1975

The first thing James noticed was the steady rhythm of rain hitting the window, an occasional rumble of thunder shaking the room. Lightning flashed behind his closed lids and he inhaled deeply. Groaning at the movement of his rib cage, James flipped onto his side and buried his face into the pillow. He was _sore_ , and _not_ the good _Quidditch-owns-my-arse_ kind of sore. Not only did his muscles ache, but there was a sort of heaviness in his bones he couldn’t remember having before.

_Merlin_ , _what happened yesterday?_

Frustrated, James kicked one leg out of his blankets and huffed. His memory wasn’t the best, but it’d never been foggy before. It was either a clear recollection, or it was a blank slate. Not the vague half-formed ideas that filled his mind now.

The last things he could really recall… He and Sirius just got back to Hogwarts after a rough summer.

Sirius had shown up on his doorstep in the middle of the night, fists clenched and jaw tight. He stood shivering in the brisk summer night with new bruises blossoming along his back, keeping his face hidden with his hair. Before he could say a word, James pulled him inside and steered him into the kitchen, wrapping him in a blanket on the way. James had been rummaging around the cabinets for Pepper Up potion when his mother shuffled in. He tried to ignore the reflexive wince from Sirius when his mother’s hand brushed the hair away from his face. James’ father appeared behind him and soundlessly summoned the ingredients for Pepper Up. As his father began brewing in the corner, the knot in his chest loosened when his mother quietly declared that Sirius was going to stay in the Potter Manor from now on.

The first few days with Sirius were tough. Sirius had both simultaneously accepted and resisted his newfound residence. The Potters had welcomed Sirius into their family without hesitation, having been a brother to James in everything but blood. In reality, Euphemia Potter had already been keeping the room next to James’ prepared ever since they met Sirius on the platform after first year when they went to pick up James. He had been willingly dragged by her own son and gave her the stiffest bow she’d ever seen from a Pureblood. She’d pinched his cheeks and told him to visit soon. And he did, almost every other week since then, his eyes sparking with more life and mischief with each subsequent visit.

This summer, Sirius stayed mostly to himself. He wouldn’t leave his room for days at a time, opening the door occasionally for James. Mostly for Fleamont for Wizard’s Chess. Always for Euphemia.

Often, James would hear low muttering on the other side of the door, quickly followed by rapid cursing and eventually, a muffled slam. He suspected Sirius still tried to reach Regulus, but the two had strayed farther and farther with the growing blood supremacy climate. James had tried asking about it in the past, but he was met with deflection and ire. Instead, he left it alone. Sirius would talk when he wanted to.

James had also gotten notice he was made Quidditch captain over the summer. He tried coaxing Sirius out again to visit Diagon Alley, but to no avail. So, he went alone.

September had crept up faster than anticipated and Sirius’s mood stayed low, albeit improved from when he first showed up at the Potter’s. They journey to the castle was, thankfully, uneventful. Remus and Peter had raised their eyebrows at the sullen mood surrounding Sirius, but James shook his head.

Then they saw Regulus with the wrong crowd at the welcoming feast.

James remembered hastily whispering for Remus and Peter to hold down the fort before chasing after Sirius as he stormed out of the Great Hall. When he finally caught up right outside the Gryffindor Tower, James also remembered suggesting they go for a run outside. Just the two of them.

Soon enough, Prongs and Padfoot sat in companionable silence in one of the Forbidden Forest clearings until midnight.

James and Sirius stumbled back under the Invisibility cloak into the dormitories, narrowly missing a run-in with Filch.

After collapsing in bed, muscles tingling from the adrenaline, James remembered having the _strangest_ dream.

He was… a girl? With the palest skin and scattered freckles. He had deep red hair that fell around the shoulders and piercing green eyes. He was shamelessly studying her— er, his?— reflection in the mirror when someone busted down his door. He stared blankly at her and asked who she was, and then promptly received the scolding of his life.

He was never going to forget the name _Petunia_ , not to mention the voice that accompanied it.

There was apparently so much to do in the morning, and he was already running late? James was frazzled before he even made it to breakfast. He had to do his hair (which he was _already_ shite at with his own hair, how was he supposed to manage a girl’s hair? What was that thing his mother used to make… a braid?), he had to go through the mortifying experience of figuring out the bathroom, and on top of all of that? He didn’t even have a _wand_ to cheat his way through the morning.

_Petunia_ had shrieked at him from downstairs, something about _school_ and James had no idea what was going on. He literally _just got to school_ in his real life. Now he had _another_ one to go to in his dreams?

The walk there was _dreadful._ The town was gray, dusty, and all around a bit depressing. All the buildings looked the same, there was hardly any greenery, and the sun was beating down on them the entire time. Petunia had been nagging him constantly about the state of his hair, telling him to braid it.

To keep his hearing intact, James nodded and allowed Petunia to pull his red hair into a tight plait. When she split off to her own school, James immediately pulled it out. Better a sweaty neck than the intense headache he was going to get with a hairstyle like that. Besides, wild hair wasn’t so out of the ordinary for him.

He saw another building in the distance with students milling about. He figured that was where he was supposed to go.

His friends— _Mary and Benjy, Mary and Benjy—_ had greeted him at the entrance, greeted _Lily_ , apologizing for not waiting this morning. He’d gotten a few raised eyebrows at his wild hair, but that was routine for him. He was more concerned about the classes he was supposed to be getting to, especially when he didn’t have access to magic. He asked Mary and Benjy about the schedule… listing off his usual courses: Transfiguration, Charms, Arithmancy… he trailed off after seeing the looks on their faces.

They had quickly herded him to a classroom, throwing furtive glances at the other students in the hall. The two of them seemed sufficiently concerned, so much so, they walked him into his classroom and pulled out a bound book and some thin tubes. They flipped to a blank page and looked at him expectantly. He looked at the two of them and hesitantly picked up a tube. _Was this their version of a wand?_

No sooner than picking it up, Mary snatched it out of his hands, and corrected his grip.

“A _pen,_ Lily. This is a _pen._ Alright? You take notes with it. Start here.”

He could hear Benjy stifling his snickers behind him and bit back his own smirk when Mary swatted him.

Eventually, they shuffled out of the room quietly, giving him a few more worried looks. James waved them off. This was just a dream, a _very_ realistic one…

James sat through the entire day of classes, haphazardly taking notes in the book Mary pulled out for him. He started off interested in each class. This was _nothing_ like what they taught at Hogwarts, but his mind began to wander. He jotted down the names he’d learned this morning. He made notes on what he saw in the town. He was also incredibly fascinated with this _pen._ It was smaller and lighter than quill. He didn’t have to constantly dip it into an inkwell. The grip was a little strange, but he got the hang of it.

Mary and Benjy reappeared and, thankfully, escorted him back to his house. Lily’s house. They lingered by him. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay? You didn’t hit your head anywhere, did you?”

James smiled fondly. “You really are stand-up people, aren’t you? It’s nice to know that I’ll have the best of friends, even in my dreams.”

“Lily—”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m just going to sleep, and I’m going to wake up in my own bed soon enough. Cheers.”

James shut the door in their astonished faces and started up the stairs. _A full day without magic wasn’t so bad._ _It’s really just a bit of an itch._ He let the bookbag slump onto the desk in his room and he shrugged off the sweater he pulled on that morning.

As he settled back in the bed he woke up in, James determined that this was a very _long_ , realistic dream.

Sure enough, the next day, he woke up in the Gryffindor dormitories with Sirius and Remus snoring in unison, and Peter’s snores joining in on the offbeat. Later, during breakfast, he found it strange that his friends were suddenly all addressing each other with eerily familiar flower names…

_“What, no Lily today? After all that work I put in as Saffron? Unbelievable, Prongs.”_

_“Lay off Sirius, Rose needed a break. As a matter of fact,_ I _need a break.”_

_“You needed a break? Apparently, I wasn’t a_ good _enough Petunia. How am I supposed to assume the role of a sister that I didn’t even know I had?”_

_That,_ and the fact he couldn’t _remember_ yesterday…

James sprang up from his pillow. He couldn’t remember yesterday.

He looked down at his pillow. This was _not_ his pillow.

His head snapped up and surveyed his surroundings. This was _not_ his room.

He scrambled out of bed and ran over to the mirror, freezing at the sight. This was most definitely _not his body._

_Again._

“ _Fuck!_ ”

His door banged open, but there was no one on the other side. James furrowed his brow and glanced at his hands. _Was that accidental magic?_

Moments later, he heard rapid footsteps coming up the stairs and a red-faced Petunia appeared in the doorway. She hissed at him, “What are you doing up here, Lily? We have _company_ over!”

He smiled sheepishly at her. “Sorry, Petunia. Got startled by, uh, a bug on the ceiling.”

Petunia narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him and sniffed. “Get cleaned up. It’s noon.”

She glanced at him up and down and muttered, “You’d think you’d check the time more often since you started wearing dad’s watch.”

She shut the door behind her with a huff and James turned back to the mirror. He was either having recurrent, lucid dreams… or he was the subject of a very _complex_ switching spell.

Sighing, James slumped to the floor, studying Lily’s features. She really was quite pretty, despite some of the exhaustion across her face. Never in his wildest dreams would he be able to dream up someone like Lily… right? _She had to be real, right?_

As James scanned across the reflection, he noticed the puffiness in his eyes—er, Lily’s eyes. Grimacing, he reached up to touch his cheeks. _Had she cried herself to sleep?_

He looked around his room and found the watch Petunia mentioned. James got up from the floor and picked up the watch. It was a golden face with a matching golden strap. The face looked like it’d been fitted with a new relatively new glass covering. _Come to think of it, it looked a lot like the one he has—_

The watch gleamed suddenly, and James stared at it dumbfounded.

_Did the watch… just wink at him? Or was that more accidental magic?_

James blew out a long breath and shook his head. If this really _wasn’t_ a dream… he was going to have a long talk with Professor McGonagall about switching spells…

Idly, he rifled through the bookbag and pulled out the notebook he used last time. He flipped to the last page and found new notes.

_Lily’s_ notes.

He found her regular class notes, but he also found her scribbles in the margins of the notes he took. He smiled at the crosses and circles that littered his poor handwriting, along with her own translation of some of the more illegible bits. A few more flips later, Lily’s notes ended and he reached a blank page. James paused, biting his lip.

Before he could regret it, he grabbed a pen off Lily’s desk and began writing.

 

 

_Dear Evans,_

_I’m James Potter, which I’m sure you’ve found out by now._

_Pleasantries aside, I have a few questions for you…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!  
>  chapter 3 may take some more time...  
> I have a string of exams/assessments coming up that I'll be taking care of before I can really sit down and crank out the next chapter.
> 
> For those of you who haven't seen kimi no na wa/your name before, hopefully this chapter gives a l i t t l e more insight :).
> 
> come find me on tumblr:  tsunnychan 

**Author's Note:**

> happy birthday petals! a gift for you and a challenge for myself.
> 
> please enjoy!!


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